Article for lining tap holes of furnaces



Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED `staras HENRY G. FRERICHS. 0F BARTONVILLE. ILLINOIS.

ARTICLE FOR LINNG TAP HOLES OF FURNACES.

Application lcd Gctcber 16, 1924. Serial No. 744,053.

To all who/n t may concern.

Be it known that I, IInNnY G. Fmnucns, a citizen of the United States,residing` at Bartonville, in the county of Peoria, State of Illinois,have invented a new and Improved Article for Lining Tap I-Ioles ofFurnaces.

Figure 1 is a cross-section in outline show ing an open hearth furnacewith a tap-hole and my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the article for liningl the tap-hole;

Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2 and,

Figure 1 is a perspective view in section of the article shown in Figure2.

This invention relates more particularly to furnaces containing moltenmetal, preferably of the open hearth type, such as are used for themanufacture of steel.

1The invention has for its principal object a new and improved lining`for the tap-hole of a furnace by the application of a one piece ormonolithic `construction which constitutes the article of the invention.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means for quickreplacement of tap-holes after they have been burned away or destroyedin some other manner.

Still another object of the invention is to provide for making therefractories used for tap-holes last much longer and snob viate frequentreplacement.

A further object of the invention is to make a tap-hole refractory insuch a manner that the molten metal which chills or freezes in thetap-hole, may be easily and quickly removed.

I attain the foregoing objects by building a monolithic or one piecetapehole block of suitable refractory material, depending on the purposefor which it is to be used. For basic open hearth furnaces, I prefer touse a block made of dead burned magneste in much the same manner as amagnesite brick would be made.

At the present time tap-holes are built up of arch brick, thecomposition of the brick depending on the type of furnace and thecharacter of the metal or slag formed therein.

For the purposes of this description I will refer to a basic open hearthfurnace,

although it is to be understood that I do not limit the use of myinvention to this type of furnace.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a furnace having a molten metalchamber 2 with which communicates a tap-hole 3. rEhe tap-hole refractoryis designated fr being of suitable length and diameter and tubular incross-section, as shown. While such a refractory may be made of suitablelength to correspond to the length of the tap-hole in the furnace, Iprefer that they be of a length less than the length of the tap-hole andaligned in series using a plurality thereof, as shown in Figure 1.

According` to the well known practice, when tap-hole blocks are built upof several arch brick a five inch diameter circle may` require nineteen(19) brick), they are built around a form, usually a steel pipe. It thisis being done, as is usually the case, while the furnace is hot, thework is very disagreeable and it is almost impossible to do a good jobwithout shutting down the furnace for a couple of hours, more orless.Furthermore, the joints between the bricks allow steel to pass throughthem and this destroys the refractory in a relatively short time.Sometimes, too, a piece of steel will freeze in the hole and part of itwill have to run down between the joints of the bricks making itexceedingly hard to re-k move and all of these 'things delay the yoper-`ation of the furnace.

I have discovered that if these say, nineteen (19) brick, are replacedwith one block, or two or three aligned is shown in Figure 1, each blockmade and formed in one solid piece, then I obviate all of theaforementioned difficulties which occur with a nonmonolithicconstruction. The hole does not cut out at anywhere near the rate ofspeedf steel does not stick therein, because there is no means ofattaching itself, and the replacement is a matter' of an exceedinglyshort time.

I prefer to construct a block having a five inch hole and a four inchWall, but it is obvious that I need not be limited to such dimensionsand, therefore, do not wish to be limited otherwise than expressed inthe appended claims.

lVhat I claim is:

l. A monolithic tap-hole refractoryv for furnaces and of tubularcross-section.

2. A monolithic magnesite tap-hole re- 5 l'ractory for furnaces and oftubular cross- Section,

3. A lining' for tap-holes ol open hearth furnaces, comprising a seriesof aligned monolithic refractory units of tubular cross- Section.

el. In combination With an open hearth furnace, a Wall of which isprovided with a tap-hole, of a liningl for said tap-hole, com prising amonolithic refractorY unit of tubular cross-section.

HENRY G. FRERIGHS.

